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Sunday, November 9, 2008

Sunday, November 9, 2008

A lot of you have requested that I feature some non-fondant cakes for Sunday Sweets. (For you non-bakers, fondant is a kind of sugar dough which makes cakes look ultra-smooth.) Turns out, that's easier said than done; most bakeries these days use fondant almost exclusively. Still, the more I looked, the more I wanted to feature some butter cream-only Sweets, if for no other reason than to show that you still CAN make a beautiful cake without the aid of fondant, and also without all the expensive doo-dads the pros use.

As usual with my Sunday Sweets, I don't have the credits for all these photos, so if you recognize a cake please let me know who made it so I can link to their site. Thanks!

First up, a cute-as-a-button Strawberry Shortcake Cake from Pink Apron:

I like that she used sugar cookies instead of solid fondant for the name (and probably the strawberries, too, although I can't be sure); I'm always in favor of a cake being as edible as possible. The colors, the little flowers - it all just works. Love it.

Next up is a super fun cake that's surprisingly easy to make, considering how cool it looks:

See, I know it's easy, because I actually made one before. Yeah - me. (This is not it.) You can also make the popcorn using fondant, but it's much easier (and yummier) to make it with icing.

This next one uses a nifty icing technique where you dab it on with a brush or sponge:

And finally, here's a great example of all kinds of different piping techniques:

Simple, maybe, but Tammy over at The Piece of Cake knows her way around a piping bag. That basket weave ain't easy, folks!

The best part is anyone who has taken the Wilton classes can make this cake; I'm pretty sure they teach every technique used here, including the flowers. I'm not plugging for Wilton, mind you (I haven't forgiven them yet for those CCC kits) - but I've known some great Wilton instructors in my time.

I seriously regret never paying close attention when Grandma did the basketweave on the side of a cake. It was amazing what frosting art her gnarled, arthritic but unbelievably steady hands could produce with a piping bag.

I have to disagree about the basketweave cake. While yes, it is pretty, basketweave is one of the most basic techniques that they teach new cake decorators. And I think any professional cake decorator would tell you that Wilton techniques are basic in general--relying on shaped pans and pre-made accessories does not necessarily show true cake decorating talent.

Wow. This isn't a comment on this post, but it's something you need to know...

It's an ad thing. When I came online today I checked the blogs I follow for updates, then opened all the newest ones. Then my computer started making a "ping" every second or so. I worried I had just unleashed a virus or something, so I started to shut down all windows in preparation for a sweep.

The noise stopped. I reopened the windows, one at a time, and waited for the noise to start. When I opened Cake Wrecks it started again. This time it was a whistle, a high-pitched "heet, heet" every second or so. I looked around for the culprit.

There was an ad that showed a fake "Internet Explorer" box at the bottom of the page. It informed me that I was the 999,999th visitor, and all I had to do was click on it to collect my prize. It kept vibrating for some reason.

I refreshed the page, hoping to generate a new set of ads, and the noise started again - this time it was on the sidebar.

I refreshed again and again, and the ad kept shuttling between the two positions, but the noise kept going.

So. I guess I can shut off the sound from now on whenever I visit Cake Wrecks - that's no problem, I have a "Mute" button on my keyboard. But this ad will probably annoy the hell out of your visitors.

I know that none of us have much contol over the ads that appear on our sites - this was discussed earlier on your site - but maybe you can contact Adbrite and ask them to block that particular ad, and maybe kick that particular advertiser out of the program.

- Harold from Another Monkey

Word verification word: dulchbad

- someone or something that is sweetly evil

Man, that ad sure is annoying. Whoever arranged to have it appear there sure is a dulchbad.

Thanks to d.b. echo for bringing up the ad thing. I just got a new computer yesterday and I couldn't figure out why it was making that noise. Especially since it's a Windows noise and this is my first Mac. I was kind of freaking out. So thanks for the explanation! I didn't think to look at the ads.

Trust me, basketweave may be a simple technique, but getting it flawless on the side of a cake without gaps, sagging weaves, and no seams? That does take serious talent and paitence.

Also, you're wrong about the Wilton courses. They are the basics of decorating, but they do not teach you to rely on shaped pans or accesories. I'm a WMI, and we never use any of that stuff in the courses. Course 2 especially is all about technique. If anything, Wilton still keeps alive the old ways of cake decorating because so much of today's designs are almost exclusively fondant, and fondant takes seconds to learn.

re: the topic

YAY to buttercream only creations!! That basketweave cake looks so rich and yummy. I also am in love with the Strawberry Shortcake.

Anyone who thinks it doesn't take talent to use Wilton shaped pans and accessories hasn't seen some of the many sad cakes pictured online made with them. Creativity and skill is what makes a cake decorator talented, not the supplies they use to create their cakes.

Thanks for the fun buttercream frosted cake eye candy! I do very amateur cake decorating with buttercream and I LOVE it! I think the point you made about the "expensive doo dads the pro's use" is the reason I shy I away form fondant...plus I LOVE using the piped frosting...it's fun. I love your cake wrecks becaue they instill me with confidence, LOL! It's like WOW, that person was REALLY lazy when I see some of these cakewrecks. Keep the fun blog posts coming! :)

Those ARE nice. I have taken all the Wilton classes except the fondant one, and I can attest that all these can be made with the piping bags or parchment. Although, I am personally not this talented! :) I would LOVE to know how the popcorn cake was made---please share!

I have to share that when I did my first real homework for this class--making about 75 frosting flowers--were consumed by my dog when I was out of the kitchen. The damned dog actually did eat my homework...

Actually, morgi, you're supposed to frost the cake before you apply the fondant. And smooth the frosting. It keeps cakey lumps from showing through the fondant, and fondant, like polyester, shows EVERY lump and curve.

Personally, I think I'm going to stick to buttercream with just accents of fondant for a long, long time. You can't really paint on buttercream, especially meringue-type buttercream, and I likes me shiny. But accents are much easier to pull off than an entire covering, and much faster to make than royal icing or chocolate accents.

The last cake with the basketweave reminds me of a bakery that we always got our cakes from when I was little... owned by a little old Polish man, they used only their own recipe good quality buttercream to make the most delicious cakes ever. We once got a lamb cake for my sister's birthday because it was the day after Easter, and it was yummy albeit hard to cut into an adorable lamb!

That basket weave is amazing. I understand that the professionals say that it's a basic technique, but I can't see any short cut to doing it. Do you really have to start at the top or bottom and do every little segment one loop at a time? It would be hard to plan exactly what order to do it in not to get any seams. It would be hard to get it evenly spaced. It's not like the pie crust in sleepwalker's signature where you can actually weave it, and you an move the dough if it's not perfect the first time.

I didn't even know that the super smooth stuff was fondant, but I do appreciate the difference and like this post.

I'd also like to know how to do the popcorn...I can't see the kernels clearly enough to figure it out.

I've done 2 of the 4 Wilton courses, and haven't seen yet how they depend on shaped pans or things like that as one commenter suggested...only one of the three basic cake courses even requires a pan other than a basic round, and that's an oval, supplied in the kit.

And yes, once you've completed course II, you should be able to do that basketweave cake...albeit not that perfectly without practice.

The basketweave "Happy Birthday Brenda" cake is from Tammy at thepieceofcake.com - it's pictured on her site near the bottom of all of her birthday cakes. She is absolutely incredible (with buttercream and fondant) and could be a regular feature on your Sunday Sweets! I'm proud to say that a number of cakes on her website were made for my family. Cristina-South Carolina

For those of you asking about the popcorn cake, here's the condensed version of how to make it:

Bake the cake in a bowl, and frost the sides. Don't bother leveling off the top: the mound looks pretty good when covered with "popcorn".

For the popcorn, use a large round pastry tip to pipe balls of icing all over the top, randomly placed. Then change to a smaller round tip, and make smaller balls/dots next to the large ones. Make sure you fill in the entire area, so no cake shows through, and even have some hanging over the edge and overlapping each other. Just keep going 'til it starts to look like popcorn.

Then, for that last realistic touch, use a small mixture of vanilla & brown food coloring to paint in little dots between the "kernels". This looks like the cooked/burned bits on the popcorn, and really sells the whole cake.

Hope that helps! Check Cake Central for more popcorn cakes: they had some nice ones there last I checked. (In fact, the cake I posted may have come from CC, now that I think of it...)

I don't think I've ever had fondant, so I don't have any particular opinion on the taste/texture, but I guess I've always felt that it was sort of "cheating." I mean, I realize it takes a lot of time and skill, and I've seen some really beautiful cakes which used it, but at the same time, I'd rather see a cake that didn't use it, or which used very little, instead using cake, icing, and other edibles.

also...everyone seems to hate fondant. i agree that it can be pretty vile, but i homemade some (what a pain) once and it was SO good. we were eating the scraps like candy. even my mother, the fondant hating queen, loved it.

I'm weird - but I like eating fondant. Every year for Christmas we make a gingerbread creation (last year was Santa driving a Ford Mustang convertible, the year before was Whoville, the year before was a church, etc) and we usually use a mixture of royal icing and fondant for decorating them. They look as good as our self-taught amateurism allows them to be, and taste fantastic when it comes time to eat them.

That being said, my boyfriend's grandmother is a retired pastry chef, and both her and my boyfriend are adamantly against fondant on a cake. With how beautiful today's cakes are, I can definitely see why.

these are nice cakes, but I have to stand up for us "fondant" artists! LOL

If you think fondant is disgusting, you have probably tasted Wilton fondant (and I agree with you on that one!) Most other types are MUCH more palatable, though it is very sweet. The fondant I use tastes much like marshmallows.

If you think that fondant work is easier or somehow cheating, I assure you it is not. And as was pointed out above, to have a professional looking finish to your fondant, you have to have a flawless coating of buttercream under it.

I can (and have) worked in buttercream, but I prefer the range of possibilities that I can achieve with fondant. It's just a different medium (just like some painters prefer oils, and some prefer watercolours...)

I am surprised though Jen... you missed the work of an AMAZING buttercream artist: Debbie Does Cake on Flickr; most of her sculpted cakes have fondant only as the accents!

YAY to an absence of fondant!! I hate having to peel off a thick layer of crap before diving into my piece of cake. Fondant may make a cake look unbelievably shiny and smooth, but to me it looks less like cake and more like plastic. Guess I'm just a traditionalist. Thanks for a buttercream celebration.

To the person who said they think that toys have feelings - there is a word for that. Anthropomorphism - giving human characteristics (feelings, etc) to inanimate objects. So you're not the only one who thinks like that.

Thanks for the all buttercream post! I appreciate the skills involved in working with fondant and I think it's beautiful, but it's not yummy! Cake should be, above all else, yummy! I work in buttercream (with a very rare fondant accent) and nobody ever complains about how my cakes look or taste!

I agree with WildCakes. Fondant is not easy, it is not a cop out. It is difficult to master and takes patience and skill! You try rolling out a dough to the perfect thickness, lift the entire thing (if you are doing an 8 inch cake, you need a circle AT LEAST 18 inches around) and then smooth it out without ripping it. And that's before you even decorate it.I too am a WMI (Wilton Method Instructor) and I actually self-taugh starting with fondant, and later working with buttercream.They are both excellent mediums to work with, each having distinct advantages. But, since learning how to smooth buttercream to the consistency of fondant, I do enjoy it, but once "crusted over" buttercream can crack when moved, fondant doesn't do that.

For all the fondant haters: my sister and I make our own marshmellow fondant, and it is really tasty. The kids eat it like candy. Still, I understand why people prefer to not have fondant, but I actually love the kind we make. Also, someone already mentioned it, but the cake has to be iced almost perfectly with buttercream before adding the fondant, so in a way, it is extra work, because you have two layers that must be perfect.These cakes were great today though! But I am one of the few that prefers the fondant, because of the look. (And now that we make our own, the taste too!... it's double the goodness!)Kelly, Burleson, Texas

For some awesome buttercream cakes check out www.carriesellman.com. She used to have a place in Dallas but I guess she moved and hasn't opened her new shop yet but still has a site. It is hard to believe that some of these cakes really are buttercream. Pretty incredible.

Just as there is good quality melt in your mouth chocolate and bad waxy chocolate, there is good delicious fondant and there is bad please don't make me eat that stuff fondant. Unfortunately the most accessible fondant sold in chain stores everywhere is the terrible stuff.

Jen, thanks for posting buttercream beauty, and for the Wilton plug. I'm an instructor, and the basketweave cake has techniques from 3 of the 4 courses. I teach fondant, but don't use much of it personally. Even if you don't like to cover cakes with it, its sculptural properties (and pretty flowers!) make it worth trying!

Okay, the bear cake is really well done, but the lettering? Alas, of the quality that would be mocked in daily Wrecks. It drives me nuts because it totally takes away from the bear, and it's puzzingly unprofessional.

I just ordered my completely fondant-free wedding cake last week and I am so excited about it after seeing her other designs. While I was in ordering, she was working on a cake for a baby shower. It had light green frosting and a pea pod on top made out of sugar. It was fabulous looking.

If you can find Choco-Pan in your area, I highly recommend trying it, or you can order on line. I still prefer buttercream over fondant, but this is pretty good, it's very easy to work with,and the creator is a lovely person.

If you can find Choco-Pan in your area, I highly recommend trying it, or you can order on line. I still prefer buttercream over fondant, but this is pretty good, it's very easy to work with,and the creator is a lovely person.

Several years ago, I spent my summer vacation at the Wilton School outside of Chicago. For 5 days, we learned the basics of baking, making icing, piping, decorating, using fondant, making gum paste flowers, wedding cake construction and much more. The facility was clean and spacious, the instructor was outstanding.

I had already been making wedding cakes for friends, but the course was spectacular. More than 2/3 of the class had barely picked up an icing bag before. I recommend their courses to everyone -- especially if you can afford the time and expense of doing the week-long course.

And yes, the basketweave -- I adore a well-done basketweave. I used it on wedding cakes for years. It fell out of favor from wedding cakes and was replaced by disgusting fondant. Bleh!

HOORAY FOR BUTTERCREAM!! I love piping and piping techniques and there is just so much more out there then fondant! (I really don't like the stuff but will use it if some requests it). I feel like its cheating. Like playing with playdoh (and yes I know this takes time and patience), I just feel like bakers who use other technigues (gum paste, chocolate, royal(amazing stuff), buttercream, etc) are amazing artists!

Ohhh that bear is SOOOO cute! He looks so sad, I want to pick him up and give him a hug. But then he'd be just be nothing but squishy cake and frosting. :(Cute bear cake = good, squishy cake & frosting = not so much.

Ugh, I can't wait for the fondant craze to pass!!! I could not be more bored with it.

Although some folks can do great work with it, the majority of what I've seen done with fondant is not so great, usually sloppy, and it just seems like an overall waste of time and money to me. Especially when most fondant tastes like crap.

I would love to see more fondant free cakes featured! I know they're out there somewhere.

I'd even take gum paste decorations over fondant -- both for looks and taste. Maybe it's just me, but you don't see gum paste flowers that often anymore...

I am a believer of creating with buttercream instead of fondant myself. It taste 1000 times better! I also don't have an airbrush tool, which seems to be the other over used tool in cake decorating. While fondant cakes can be absolutely stunning, I have more respect for people that use buttercream to decorate with because it really does take skill to make it look really good. Otherwise... did you all see the monkey poop??

Nice to see the buttercream! Many thank you's from a buttercream artist! :-D I watch your blog in fear and delight, wondering, hoping, dreading the day I log on and find a wreck of my own posted! You keep me on my toes and honest! Cheers!

Thise buttercream-only cakes are soooooooooo excellent! It impresses many a client who is not impressed by even the best fondant brands out there (like Fondarific, its older competitor Satin Ice, or even the cheaper marshmallow fondant). I read in blogs and forums that Wilton's fondant is pretty pants.

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